“I don’t know if he ever sold any, but Momma Belle said that her husband, Earl, used to make moonshine before the cancer got him.”
“Cancer?” Cowboy asked, surprise registering on his face. “Earl didn’t die from cancer.”
“Oh. When she said that the big C hooked its claws into him, I just assumed—”
“Cirrhosis of the liver,” Cowboy corrected. “The old man drank himself to death. Probably to get away from Momma Belle, right, Jakey?”
Jake shook his head. “Christ, I hate when she calls me that.”
Bobbie Jo laughed and then turned her attention onto me. “Hey, Anna, we’re all heading out to The Backwoods bar tomorrow night. Do you want to come?”
“Good idea,” Judd said. “My buddy will be at the bar. You can meet him while you’re there.”
Cowboy lifted his head, and his heated gaze met mine.
I shook my head. “Oh, I don’t know. I really don’t think—”
“Come on, Anna,” Emily said. “It’s the first time I’m leaving Lily with Floss for the whole evening. I could use the moral support. Besides, it’ll be fun.”
With everyone staring at me, waiting for my answer, I couldn’t bear to tell them no. “Okay, sure. I’d love to.”
“Great,” Bobbie Jo said with a smile. “The girls can get ready at your house together and meet up with the boys at the bar. How does that sound?”
Emily and Bobbie Jo smiled at each other and were obviously up to no good, but I didn’t want to be the party-pooper. “That’s fine.”
“Good,” Bobbie Jo said, winking at Emily. “It’s settled, then.”
The girls started cleaning up, but I just sat there, still trying to figure out what the hell I had just gotten myself into. I wasn’t entirely certain, but I had a feeling I had been coerced into…well, something.
Jake rose from the picnic table. “Let’s go help Hank clean the grill and then we can get to breaking that horse.”
“We?” Cowboy asked, cocking one eyebrow.
Jake grinned. “You think you’re the only one who’s ever broken a horse, asshole?”
Cowboy laughed. “Shit. Jake, the only horse you ever broke was the one outside the grocery store that takes quarters.”
“We’ll find out in a few minutes, won’t we?”
“Guess so,” Cowboy said with a challenging nod and a glint in his eyes.
My gaze flickered to Ox and Judd, who both sat there grinning at Cowboy, as if they were subconsciously agreeing with Jake. As Jake started away, the others stood up, threw their trash away, and followed him, leaving me alone with Cowboy.
Feeling awkward, I rose and gathered my plate in my hands, but just as I started to leave, Cowboy said, “Anna…?”
I turned back to him. “Yes?”
“When I come by later, which kiss do you want to talk about, the first or the second?” The intensity in his eyes held my gaze, only making me more uncomfortable than I already was. Which apparently was something he enjoyed, since his tight-lipped mouth turned up into a full-on smirk.
But I’d had enough. “You really think you’re something, don’t you?”
“I’m more concerned about what you think.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know what I think.”
“Try me.”
I cocked my head, realizing he was serious. “Okay. I think you’re an egotistical ass, who behaves like a large child. You can’t have what you want, so you keep acting out until you get it. I also find your actions to be inconsistent with the behavior of a gentleman…not that you ever claimed to be much of one,” I said, using his words against him.
Cowboy blinked and the smile fell from his face. “No, no. Don’t hold back or anything.”
I shrugged. “You asked.”
“Well, at least admit that you enjoyed the kiss.”